The SENCO's Guide to Setting Up for a New School Year

The first few weeks of a new school year are when a SENCO's entire year either gets built on solid ground, or starts on the back foot. Registers to check, new starters to identify, provision to map, and a governing body that will expect a clear picture of SEND before half term arrives.

This guide covers exactly what needs setting up at the start of the year, and how to make sure it holds together right through to July.

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Start by Reviewing Every Existing EHCP

Before anything else, every EHCP already on your register needs a proper review, not for content, but for currency.

For each pupil with an EHCP, check:

• Is the plan up to date, or is an annual review already overdue from last year?
• Has anything changed over the summer, a house move, a change in family circumstances, new diagnoses, that affects what's written in the plan?
• Is the named school correct, particularly for any pupils who transferred in over the summer?
• Are upcoming annual review dates for the year already logged, so nothing catches you by surprise in December?

If you're not confident on the exact statutory timeline for annual reviews, we've covered the EHCP annual review process in full, including the two deadlines that matter most, the four-week decision point and the twelve-week final plan deadline.

Getting this right in September means the whole year's review schedule is planned rather than reactive.

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Update Your Provision Maps for the Year Ahead

Last year's provision map almost certainly doesn't reflect this year's reality. Staffing changes, pupils moving on, new pupils arriving, and shifting needs all mean provision maps need a proper refresh, not a copy and paste from July.

A good September provision map review asks:

• Which interventions are continuing, which are ending, and which are new this year?
• Does current staffing actually match what the provision map says is being delivered?
• Are there pupils whose needs have changed over the summer who need new or different provision?
• Is provision mapped against a clear evidence base, so progress can genuinely be tracked from September through to July?

A provision map that's accurate from week one is far easier to maintain all year than one that needs untangling in October.

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Onboard New Pupils with SEND Properly

Every September brings a wave of new pupils with SEND, some transferring in with existing EHCPs, some newly identified, some flagged by a previous school as needing early support.

For a smooth start:

• Chase transfer documentation from previous schools immediately if it hasn't already arrived
• Read every incoming EHCP before the pupil's first week, not after
• Brief class teachers and support staff on what provision needs to be in place from day one
• Set up a proper record for pupils who are newly identified, even before any formal assessment process begins

New pupils with SEND are the group most likely to fall through the gaps in the first few weeks of term, simply because their information often arrives later than everyone else's. Getting ahead of this early prevents a difficult first half term for both the pupil and the staff supporting them.

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Set Up Intervention Records from Day One

Whatever interventions are running this year, whether that's small group literacy support, speech and language work, or SEMH interventions, the record-keeping needs to start on day one, not once things have "settled down."

At minimum, each intervention record should capture:

• Who is delivering it, and how often
• What the intended outcome is
• A simple way to log attendance and engagement
• A clear point at which progress will be reviewed

Interventions set up properly from September are far easier to evidence at the end of the year, whether that's for an annual review, a governor report, or an Ofsted conversation about impact.

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Prepare for Governor Reporting Early

Governors will expect a clear picture of SEND provision at some point this term, and waiting until the report is due to pull it together is the single biggest cause of last-minute stress for SENCOs.

Start building towards this now by keeping a running record of:

• Current numbers on the SEND register, and how this compares to last year
• EHCP numbers, and how many reviews are due this term
• A summary of the interventions running and their intended impact
• Any funding allocated through the Inclusive Mainstream Fund and how it's being used, a topic we've covered in more detail in our guide to what schools actually need to know about the Inclusive Mainstream Fund for 2026/27

A governor report built from information gathered gradually across the term is always stronger, and far less stressful to produce, than one assembled the week before it's due.

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Why September Is the Month That Sets the Tone

Every SENCO knows the feeling of a term that starts messy and never quite recovers. The register isn't accurate, provision maps don't reflect reality, and by October you're already playing catch-up on annual reviews that should have been scheduled in September.

The alternative is a year built on a clear foundation from week one: an accurate register, current provision maps, properly onboarded new pupils, and intervention records that build evidence automatically rather than needing to be reconstructed later.

This is exactly the kind of coordination that SEND management software is built to support, not by adding another system to learn, but by giving SENCOs one place to manage EHCPs, provision maps, interventions and reporting, so the picture stays accurate all year rather than needing to be rebuilt at each check-in point.

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The Bottom Line

The work you put into September rarely feels urgent in the moment, but it's the single biggest factor in whether the rest of the year feels manageable or chaotic. Reviewing EHCPs, refreshing provision maps, onboarding new pupils properly, and setting up intervention records early all pay off many times over by the time summer term arrives.

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Senflow brings EHCPs, provision maps, interventions and reporting into one place, so the foundation you build in September stays accurate right through to July. You can start a free 30-day trial at senflow.co.uk to see how it works for your school.

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